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Pygmy mole cricket, Tridactylidae

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Description

Taken at night in Singapore forest.

Quote from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tridacty…
The Tridactylidae are a family in the order Orthoptera. They are small, mole-cricket-like insects, almost always less than 20 mm long when mature. Generally they are shiny, dark or black, sometimes variegated or sandy-coloured. They commonly live in short tunnels and accordingly are known by common names such as Pygmy mole crickets, though they are not particularly closely related to the true "mole crickets", the (Gryllotalpidae).

The Tridactylidae are small members of the Orthoptera, most species being less than 10 mm in length, though some approach 20 mm. They have a wide, but patchy, distribution on all continents but Antarctica. Being so small and inconspicuously coloured, while living in shallow burrows in moist sandy soil, they are not generally familiar to non-entomologists. They have several unusual features, for example, the posterior femora are greatly enlarged, being strongly adapted for leaping; in some species those hind femora actually are larger than the abdomen.[1] Correspondingly, in support of their powerful jumping capabilities, the hind tibiae bear movable plates towards their distal ends. These vary in number according to the genus, and they are called natatory lamellae (meaning literally "swimming plates"). Ordinarily the insect keeps the plates closely pressed against its tibiae but it can fan them out for swimming, which most species can do very well, some even being able to dive and swim under water. Apart from scrabbling over the water or swimming, some species actually can jump off the water surface. It is probable that the natatory lamellae are what makes such implausible leaps possible. The plates also may aid jumping on land, which Tridactylidae certainly can do impressively.
Image size
1600x1067px 1.16 MB
Make
Canon
Model
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Shutter Speed
1/160 second
Aperture
F/16.0
Focal Length
100 mm
ISO Speed
100
Date Taken
Nov 19, 2016, 10:08:54 PM
Sensor Size
10mm
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Comments13
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chickenboo2's avatar
What lens are your using? This stuff is awesome!